What The Plec: A Collection of Should Have Beens
by Lana Archer
Summary: This is a selection of one-shots that show my take on current, past and potential storylines in TVD. Usually Bamon but who knows what'll annoy me next. Suggestions, reviews and bickering are all welcome. Enjoy X
1. Chapter 1

**The Talk**

* * *

><p>"Do you know what doesn't make sense to me?" Caroline wondered as she stood next to Stefan as they watched Bonnie and Damon arguing about something or other. Since Bonnie came back she and Damon had been especially insufferable; toeing the line between bone-crushing relief at their reunion and falling back into old habits.<p>

"What?" Stefan wondered, frowning as he considered breaking the two apart when he saw Bonnie smack Damon's upper arm. Damon growled and crowded her space as he loomed over her, his eyes widening as he hissed something.

"Bonnie and Damon…they _clearly_ love each other, Elena's also never going to put her _mostly_ self-inflicted misery aside to be a decent girlfriend to him or a best friend to her…yet they both bend over backwards for a girl who doesn't know if she's coming or going when it comes to love." Stefan turned to look at her then, a frown still prevalent on his features.

"We're not talking about this." Caroline's hands went up in response to his surly attitude.

"Sorry I forgot you got a personality transplant and are no longer the Stefan I knew." With that she spun on her heel to leave, "Enjoy keeping those two apart, if memory serves they always find their way back to this." Stefan pressed his mouth into a line and crossed his arms before walking over to Bonnie and his brother.

"What are you two arguing about?" Stefan asked, tugging Bonnie away lightly when she looked set to wring Damon's neck.

"Nothing!" Damon barked, reaching to grab Bonnie back from his brother. Stefan intercepted him easily, Damon was useless when he was angry, "Butt out Stefan, this doesn't concern you."

"Be that as it may, I don't like the idea of you two getting blood on the floors, don't make me put either of you in time-out." Stefan said even though his eyes stayed on Damon as he spoke. Bonnie yanked herself free from Stefan's grip, his surprise at her force causing him to release her.

"It's about the wards over Mystic Falls." Bonnie said as she crossed her arms, her face lined with unhappiness, "I found a spell to take it down." Damon's teeth gnashed as he clamped his mouth closed. "And Damon doesn't want me casting it."

"Ask her why!" Damon spat and Stefan turned to her, his eyes sombre as he implored Bonnie for the truth. Bonnie fidgeted under his gaze before huffing and rolling her eyes.

"…It's a big spell." She muttered, scoffing when Damon flung his arms out at that as if that alone proved a point he'd yet to make and Stefan nodded, finally getting a gist of the argument.

"You're _not_ doing it!" Damon said with a finger pointed at the witch's face and she narrowed her eyes at him and stuck her chin up and out, daring him to push her.

"You're not my keeper Damon, back off, you're not obligated in any way to protect the Bennett line and even when you _should have_ you _didn't_ so spare me would you?" She snapped and Damon's face turned wild as his blue eyes bulged. In a flash Stefan was pushed aside and Damon pressed Bonnie against the wall.

"I don't give a fuck about the Bennetts because _newsflash_ Judgy, I don't give a fuck about a lot of people but for _some reason_ the one's that I _do_ keep trying to off themselves!"

"So this whole argument is because against all laws of nature …you _care_ about me?" Bonnie gasped. Damon released her, flashing backwards as if she'd pushed him. Bonnie was still frozen pressed up against the wall her hands curved into little balls.

"Don't say it like that." Damon mumbled, looking at her, still infuriated, "like it repulses you."

"It doesn't _repulse_ me Damon," Bonnie ground out annoyed at his presumptuousness, "But it does confound me, _see_, I don't know if you've forgotten… but _you_, or _anyone_ for that matter, haven't really invested that much in my well-being. Look at the facts." Her eyes darted to Stefan too, he wasn't exempt from her argument, "So excuse me if I'm a little shocked that you've suddenly taken up the task of 'caring', especially when it comes in the form of you _still_ thinking you can tell me what to do!" She barked, a shaking hand aimed at him as she stormed forward to jab him in the chest.

"It's not like that!" Damon snapped while Stefan stood there, his mouth agape.

"What's it like Damon? From where I stand it's you telling me to _do_ this, or _not_ to do _that_, it's you and _Elena_ and _Stefan_ and your twisted little lives and histories that are still costing people their happiness, their _lives_…it's _exactly_ as it's always been." Bonnie hissed, her chest heaving.

"That's not true and I resent that." Damon hissed dipping his head to bore his icy eyes into hers.

"Resent it all you want," Bonnie said with a shrug, "But it's the truth that we've all been living, and so I've grown to resent it? _Sue_ me. I wanted a normal life where my love for my best friend didn't translate into me continuously throwing my life aside on a whim every time she stubbed her goddamn _toe_…it's no life to live and I'm done trying to live it. So think of this spell as a parting gift Damon, you can go back to your Boarding House and guzzle bourbon and celebrate the fact that you 'finally got the girl' while Stefan over here goes through him umpteenth midlife crisis and Elena finds something else to put between the two of you and Caroline keeps smiling through it all like everything's still going as planned. Do whatever you want but leave me the hell out of it and stop pretending you care because we both know those are just _words_."

"I brought you back!" He yelled and she stilled.

"I sent you home." She replied evenly.

"_More_ than once." Damon reminded her, nostrils flaring.

"I died for all of you, for Elena, _more_ than once." Bonnie retorted.

"What is _with_ you?" Damon exclaimed, "Here I am, in all my selfish glory actually giving a shit about you and _this_ is what I get?!" Bonnie chuckled and stepped back, circling the room with her eyes before they returned to him.

"It only took me dying how many times? It only took me losing my entire family, my friends as I knew them and sending you home without me…for you to _care_?" Bonnie's face was unimpressed and seething, "I hope you understand if I don't swoon at the very sight of you." She bit back at him sarcastically.

"Don't do the spell Bonnie, it's that simple. We can get other witches to do it." Stefan cut in. Both Damon and Bonnie turned to regard him icily.

"Because Luke and Liv worked out _so_ well the last time." Bonnie snapped. "Both of you need to let this go, I'm _doing_ the spell… isn't this what you wanted? You conditioned me to be at your beck and call and to fix every shitty situation you ended up in because of Elena…so here you go, the wards will be down by nightfall, you can fix whatever latest drama has crept out of a gutter in Mystic Falls and then you can have a few moments of peace before it all turns to shit again."

"_Bonnie_ –" Stefan tried again but she held out a hand and shook her head.

"Shut it." She said softly, "I don't have the strength two have two pointless arguments right now."

"Bonnie." Damon growled and she turned to face him but before a thought formed in her mind Damon had her hands behind her back. "I'll lock you away somewhere, I swear it." Bonnie began to chant and where Damon's hands bound her wrists his skin began to sizzle. But he didn't let go. He winced as the pain increased exponentially.

"Let me go." Bonnie hissed, wriggling in his hold.

"Never." Damon hissed.

"Bonnie!" Stefan exclaimed and the witch caught his eye and she pressed her mouth flat. She stopped chanting and the burning stopped, the smell of singed flesh hanging in the air.

"Don't cast the spell," Damon said pain riddling his voice, "And don't leave."

"I'm doing whatever the hell I want to." Bonnie said snippily.

"_Fine_," Damon relented, pulling her back against his chest so that his mouth was right by her ear, "But at least do it for yourself and not out of this bitter resentment that's clearly gnawing at you." He drew in a breath, drew in her scent and wanted it to stay there, to stay nearby but Bonnie wasn't Elena – when she made her mind up she stuck to it; how else could you explain her _still_ dating that pathetic excuse of a human, Jeremy? "So if you want to leave, then leave because you want to and not because the choices we made are chasing you away and cast the spell because it's something you want to do and not something you feel obligated to attempt for us…Do it for yourself." His breaths tickled her inner ear and moved the strands of her hair as he spoke. Bonnie's heart rate stuttered as she pulled away from him and slapped him clear across the face.

"Goodbye Damon." She said and turned to leave his arm shot out and pulled her to him, into a vice-like embrace. He whispered something in her ear, so quietly that Stefan had to strain to hear it.

"I love you." He'd said and Stefan's eyebrows shot up. "Surely by now you've figured out as much." Bonnie's hands were at his middle, trying to push him away.

"Why do you think I'm leaving?" Bonnie said her voice muffled as he kept her face pressed to his chest.

"You know," Damon mused putting his chin on top of Bonnie's head, "For someone who begs for freedom you sure have made yourself comfortable in this cage," He smiled bitterly then, "Don't leave because of me, and don't stay because of me, whatever – but just…look after yourself okay?" He let her go then and she stumbled a little, trying to put space between them. She stared at him long and hard, her mouth turned down at the corners. "_Okay_?" he pressed and Stefan found himself holding his breath even though he didn't physically need to. The tension in the room was unbearable. Bonnie's emerald eyes found his before she turned back to Damon. She exhaled her breaths shaky and uneven. "Bonnie, say something…" Damon pressed.

"You weren't supposed to care." She mumbled. Damon frowned and took a step towards her, why had her voice turned sad so suddenly? And why did the sound itself untie a crucial set of wires that had bound themselves around Damon's heart? "Please don't come near me." Damon's footing faltered but he made for her anyway. She flashed away; using a spell they'd never seen her use as she reappeared on the other end of the living room in Stefan's house.

"Bonnie –"

"Take it back Damon, whatever you're feeling, nothing good will come from it." Bonnie pressed, her eyes shining with unshed tears.

"No." Damon said, leaning forward a little, set to charge her. Bonnie closed her eyes and a tear slipped through and she hated herself for it. It's like he knew her every weakness, her want for love and for someone to fight _for_ her instead of _using_ her to fight the world. "I love you. _Live with it_."

"I can't." She muttered, "You can't just think this fixes it all and that this will change my mind, bend my will to your favour…I should be smarter than that by now, I'm trying to be."

"That's not why I said it and you are an _idiot_ if you believe otherwise." Damon said, taking slow steps towards her. "I'm not trying to _use_ you Bonnie, I'm trying to _save_ you. That spell _will_ kill you and I'm tired of you dying on me."

"_I'm_ tired of dying!" The girl exploded, "But I have so little left to my name that it truly makes no difference to me anymore."

"Don't talk like that." Damon said his voice gruff with increasing apprehension and anger inspired by her words.

"Stop telling me what to do." she muttered sadly.

"Stop pushing me away when I'm trying to help you!" Damon roared, flashing until he was right in her face, "let's go back to bickering like old people and try to make it through one day without something going wrong." She looked up at him with sad eyes. "Come on Bon, what do you say?"

* * *

><p><strong>I just needed to air some grievances with this.<strong>

**Thoughts?**


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary:** Your reviews have been wonderful! This one goes back to the _Whatever Side_ with Bonnie and Damon. Kai is irrelevant to the scene, so he is not even mentioned. Also. If you guys have any requests for pairings for a one shot or even if it's just like a line from the show you want me to work off of let me know. I stopped watching the show when Damon came back and I started writing '_Talking in My Sleep_' so my knowledge of its atrocities has dwindled. Please note that if I do revisit a one-shot I'll use the same name as the original (adding PT 2 or whatever). I'm not saying I _will_…but if I _do_…

Without further ado.

* * *

><p><strong>The Bourbon<strong>

Bonnie Bennett was bored. So bored in fact that she'd taken it upon herself to pop open a bottle of bourbon and pull a Damon Salvatore. She didn't even know where he was right now, probably brooding like his brother, or making moon eyes at the moon while he missed Elena. She scoffed as she took another sip. She wished she could find it in herself to pine after Jeremy but she couldn't. Knowing him, and despite their cosmically-induced long distance relationship she did, she knew he was probably using his tears as lube on his latest conquest. That was Jeremy's _thing_, having mourning-sex. And thanks to Bonnie dying all the time he'd had ample opportunity to sleep his way through his 'depression'. Come to think of it, Bonnie doubted very much that he was even upset about her. Sure, it made up a component of his misery but she didn't think that he'd ever stopped mourning since his parents died and he just kept piling everything else on top of that. The thought made her frown. She lost her parent's too and she never got to mourn, she _had_ to function, she was never afforded the luxury of misery. Oh no, she always had some dying to do.

Thoroughly annoyed with the trajectory her thoughts had taken Bonnie began to take bigger sips, her face-pulling a worthy price to pay for the warmth that was spreading through her. It felt nice and she hadn't had 'nice' in so long that she found herself wanting to revel in the sensation. She stood up shakily, bottle still in hand and made her way to the CD player and squinted at it. Snorting at the memory it dredged up she decided to play '_Whatta Man_' and turned the volume up as loud as she wanted. Twirling in a circle and raising the bottle to her lips with her eyes closed she started dancing. She couldn't remember the last time she danced. She couldn't remember the last time she'd had a drink before now. Or the last time she sang out loud and off-key while she lived it up a little. Pushing the looming sadness down she settled on sending her senses out all over her body as it moved. She rotated her hips, rolled her neck and bobbed in time to the tempo of the song. Opening her eyes she scowled at the vampire in front of her who was holding up some dinky video camera to her.

"Are you recording me?" Bonnie asked. Damon's eyes flitted to her face and he grinned, nodding his head as he moved closer. She rolled her eyes and huffed.

"I need proof that you're actually not just a robot programmed to annoy the shit out of me." Damon goaded as he moved the camera absurdly close to her face, snickering as she scoffed at the lens. "And you can _dance_? Honestly Bonnie, I feel slighted," he pouted as he clicked pause on the device, "You've been holding out on me." She shoved passed him without responding and he was far too intrigued to leave her alone so he followed.

"Don't you have something _better_ to do Damon?" She asked as she flopped onto a couch in the living room, "You're always trying to push me away and mope all day by yourself and now what? You want some QT?" She narrowed her eyes, "It pleases me to inform you that you've been replaced by a much more attractive man," Damon's face scrunched up in annoyance and confusion, whether they were the last two people on earth or not there was _no_ one more attractive than him as far as he was concerned, "He's silent, _brew_-ding," she snickered at her pun, clearly tipsy, "and he happens to like it when I use my mouth." With that she winked and Damon felt his expression swing between incredulity and fascination. Lifting the Jack Daniels to her mouth she took a large gulp, sighing with satisfaction as it slid down her throat. "Now Jack Daniels," she said conversationally, "_He's_ a man."

"You're drunk." Damon retorted.

"And you're dead," Bonnie countered quickly, "What's your point?" Damon put the recorder down and made his way to the wet bar. If she wanted to act stupid and say things like that then he'd have to start drinking as well. He took two bottles of his favourite and sat down next to her. Bonnie frowned and inched away from him, making a shooing gesture with her hands. Ignoring her he cracked open a bottle and swallowed half of its content in one go. He had nowhere else to be. "I don't want to drink with you."

"I'm not giving you a choice." Damon rebutted. She got a knowing look on her face then.

"Force of habit I take it," she replied in a clipped tone, "You never did give me much leeway." Damon's blue eyes zeroed in on her indifferent and dazed expression, like she wasn't even aware of what she'd just said to him. "You know Damon," she went on, still looking ahead of her as they sat side by side, "Even though I've grown to care about you in ways that irritate _me_ more than anyone else I _assure_ you – I still happen to not like you."

"How does that work?" She pulled her lips down at the corner and shrugged, her expression comically confounded.

"Beats me." She took another sip. "But all I know is, is that on paper it makes sense for me to dislike you, it makes sense for me to hate you and it makes sense for me to think that this is in fact _my_ hell because not only is it Groundhog Day but there's no Bill Murray there's you and an eclipse and me without my powers – probably for the rest of my life." Damon was quiet. "You were so quick to make everything about you, you're like Elena that way…" her voice trailed off as she took another sip, "And Jeremy…even Caroline sometimes. The only time Stefan has ever been selfish is when he goes on killing sprees…me? I don't get to be selfish, I get to be this girl who died a long time ago but everyone keeps yanking back because they _need_ her…but not for _her_ you know? For her powers, powers I don't even have any more so I guess the joke is on you and everyone else now." Her eyes grew dark, "…maybe you'll all finally leave me alone now, maybe I'll finally get peace. Didn't Grams say she'll give me peace? This isn't peace."

"I don't think we've ever had a conversation this long." Damon said and he immediately wanted to smack himself for letting that being the only thing to come out of his mouth. Bonnie snickered then and her eyes glittered for the briefest moment.

"That's because we haven't." She said, moving to stand up and leave. Damon's arm flashed out to stop her.

"Sit down woman you'll hurt yourself," he chastised. Bonnie glowered at his arm until he let her go but she sat down anyway. "Do you feel better?" he asked after a while and she sank further into the upholstery, fiddling with the mouth of the bottle as she mulled over the question. She shook her head in the negative but her face remained impassive. Damon sank back onto the sofa, his shoulder against hers. She frowned again but he wagged his finger when she tried to push him away.

"Get used to being in my space," Damon said, "If this is hell, if this is our eternity, then it's you and me and you're just going to have to deal with it." Bonnie laughed loudly then. A deep, bubbling sound that showed off all of her teeth as she covered her face with her free hand. When she sobered she turned to Damon and looked at him drolly.

"Let's see how long you make it without seeing her face every day." Bonnie quipped, looking forward again and taking another sip. "I've always found it strange," she said, tilting her head to the side before her eyes were suddenly locked on his face, "I mean, I don't know who you are when you aren't trying to save a doppelgänger." Damon finished off his bottle and immediately opened the second one.

"…Neither do I." He admitted. His voice was inflectionless and his face was borderline serene it was so devoid of animation but Bonnie saw through it. Granted her eyes were a little out of focus but she knew by the way his shoulders were suddenly straight and raised that he was pissy. It made her snicker a little. He was so emotionally unstable, and she was quickly finding out that she wasn't exactly faring any better.

"Oh _Damon_." she said with a sigh. "Is this the part where you cut me off and tell me that you don't need to know who you really are," her tone was almost mocking now as she rehashed his usual diatribe about people and feelings, "Are you going to tell me what a bad person you are and how all you want is love?" she leaned into his space then and Damon couldn't help but feel that somewhere along the line the tables had turned, "_Hmm_?" she quirked a brow, "Are you going to mock the person you are with the ideals of who you so desperately crave to be? Or are you going to cut me down to size with biting remarks about the state of my life? Or are you going to skip straight to the fun bit where you strangle me?" her eyes were heating up the lines of Damon's face as she scoured his features, waiting for a reaction, "_Please_, remind me how utterly _predictable_ you are." Damon turned to her then, slowly, reminding her of an owl. An owl with shark's teeth. He stared at her for the longest time.

"How long have you wanted to say all that?" He asked and again she shrugged with that drunken indifference already moving to sit back where she'd been before but Damon held her close, maybe even a little closer as he lifted his brows indicating he wanted more of a response than that.

"We all have things we wish we could say to people Damon," Bonnie said, like he was an idiot for even asking her the question. He shook his head, not convinced.

"_Liar_," he pressed, "How long have you hated me?" Bonnie rolled her eyes at his dramatics, wiggling a little in his grasp so that the bottle in her hands could reach her lips. She took a sip as they stared each other down. And another.

"I don't hate you," Bonnie said seriously, "I don't hate anyone. I've learned enough about fighting, survival and betrayal to understand the motives behind it all and that's why I don't hate you…if anything, I kind of feel sorry for you." Damon's nostrils flared as anger pulsed through him and she smiled. "_Look at you_," she practically cooed, "So quick to show the world how angry you are," sighed she patted his cheek and tugged herself away from him and moved to her side of the couch, her body facing him, "If you think I hate you then you're even more ignorant than I thought you were."

"You talk a lot." Damon said coolly. Bonnie nodded.

"But you wouldn't know that, would you?" She replied, giving him a look. "So tell me Damon," she said as she lifted her feet onto the couch, getting more comfortable, "Do you hate _me_?" He drank some more before wiping his mouth with the back of his hand.

"Never did." She smiled and nodded.

"Anything you'd like to say to me?" She pressed and he looked at her, "I mean this must be weird for you, someone being so blunt with you without the main goal being to hurt your feelings."

"I don't like you either," Damon said as if he hadn't heard the last bit, "I think you're too short to be as opinionated as you are, I think your smile is crooked, just like you're relationship with Jeremy. I also happen to think you're far too good for him, which admittedly isn't much of a compliment considering I think he should have his birth certificate revoked. I don't like how you always said yes to Stefan even though his and my motives were exactly the same. I think you should hate me for what happened to your family, it wouldn't make much sense not to. I also don't like how now you think that you know me because we died together." Bonnie snorted.

"I don't think I know you Damon, I _do_ know you. Your story is as old as time itself, we've all heard it before and I'm not going to coddle you or tell you how special you are just because I know you…" she scoffed again, "You never let up with your supposed harsh truths when it came to my magic so I'm just going to do us both a favour and be honest with you. You don't have enough experience with that."

"With what?"

"People being honest with you. People realising that their love may be hurting you as much as your love hurts them…_honesty_ Damon, you need a lot more of it."

"No thank you, I'd rather we drink in peace."

"I'm not giving you a choice." Bonnie said and gave him a pointed look which he returned but she didn't waver, sticking her chin out like she always did. "If you want eternity or even the idea of it to work between us, that's how it's going to work. We'll be friends before you know and then these talks will involve a lot more laughing." Damon grumbled under his breath as he drank. Bonnie stuck her arm out to him with a look of determination.

"What do you say?" He eyed her hand out suspiciously, like he'd never seen one before, before returning his eyes to Bonnie's face.

"_Fine_," he said shaking her hand, "But next time, go easy on me." Bonnie shook her head in the negative and grinned.

"Not a chance Salvatore."

* * *

><p><strong>Thoughts?<strong>


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary: **This one might ruffle a few feathers but I'm not here to step on any toes. This is why I'm telling you all straight up that this is a _Stefan_ and Bonnie piece. I've always been fascinated by them and their parallels of martyrdom and it irks me to this day that they aren't besties at the _very_ least. She and Stefan had such a connection in the beginning of the show I felt, it was ground-breaking as far as Bonnie's idea of vampires went and he seemed to really have a soft spot for her. Then I guess the writers decided that Bonnie should be treated like poo and she was basically thrown out of the window. I'm just gonna post this and go listen to angry girl music.

* * *

><p><strong>The Brother<strong>

She felt reckless. Free. Silly. _Wanted_. A part of her acknowledged that she was too young to be so sad. And she'd _been_ sad, exceptionally so. Until Stefan took it upon himself to make her smile again. At first he wasn't even really doing anything, he'd just kind of linger around her. Then he'd look down at her with those love-me eyes and she felt something shift, a curiosity blossom, a possibility unearth itself. She could learn to like him again, to let him in, be friends with him. She just wanted to check the price-tag first.

"What are you doing?" She blurted suddenly, causing him to freeze up. He flashed upright from where he was crouched over on her porch and spun around to look at her. He was sure that if he was still human his body would be hastily volleying between the act of draining of all his colour or letting heat rush to his cheeks. Even now, undead as he was he could feel the confusion stirring within him, the apprehension. He hadn't wanted to be there when she saw the flowers but it was a bit late now. Whether he high-tailed it or not she'd caught him red handed and he wanted to burrow himself away to avoid the questions that would surely follow when he stepped out of the way. But he stepped out of the way anyway.

"For, uh, your birthday." He managed to say, priding himself that he could form a sentence at all, no matter how fragmented. She didn't hide her surprise but then confusion lined her forehead.

"It's only tomorrow." She pointed out and he nodded.

"I know that," he took a step forward, and sat down on her front steps, "But I know Caroline too and she'll no doubt steal you away all day on some misguided adventure subjecting you to shopping trips and nail-colour interventions." Bonnie laughed softly as she made her way over to him; she sat at an angle so that she could see both him and the flowers.

"They're lovely. Thank you." She said after a moment or two. He nodded, not looking at her just yet. "Why did you look like you wanted to run when I arrived just now?" And there it was, the beginnings of all the questions she'd ask him. He frowned a bit, his nose crinkling as he picked words out that he hoped would lessen her curiosity and avoid any shreds of alarm.

"I wanted it to be more of a surprise." He said, slowly, enunciating each word as if they were unfamiliar to him before then. He turned to her, "It has a note with it you see." She nodded.

"And what does this note say?" She wondered and he smiled in a way that told her she may never know the answer to that.

"I decided, when you startled me, to rather keep it for myself." He replied. She frowned prettily.

"But it's a part of my birthday present." He shrugged.

"It's not your birthday yet so I don't have to be compliant with everything you say."

"I suppose I'll have to wait until midnight then." She froze after saying that, realising what she'd implied, quickly reopening her mouth to reaffirm the boundaries that they'd so carefully constructed while he'd dated Elena but he cut her off with a grin. They were so far past that.

"You suppose correctly." He said. Later that night he showed up at quarter to twelve and she opened the door, widening it some so that he could enter. He shook his head to say no; instead he held his arm out to her.

"Just for a few minutes." He said and she shrugged, not seeing a problem. He walked her until they stood a few feet away from the porch, looking at the house she thought at first. "Do you trust me?" he asked, returning his gaze to her face, "Not a lot, I think you need to trust me about fifteen percent for this one?"

"Only fifteen?" He nodded and she pretended to think it over. "You'll have to make do with ten."

"Close your eyes." The smile was evident in his voice as he came to stand behind her like he had when she'd fallen into the well eons ago. She obliged him and felt the earth leave her feet before she landed with a muted thud on a much steeper surface. Opening her eyes she gasped, her hands flying immediately to Stefan and he chuckled, keeping her steady. They were on her roof.

"Wha-_aaat_ are we doing up here?" She stammered her laughter nervous as her wide eyes sought out some sense in his expression. He seemed so at ease, so insouciant as he held her upright, coming to stand closer to grip her waist as he walked them to a spot he found appropriate for sitting.

"There's a meteor shower any second now." Stefan said, "I thought you might like to see it." Bonnie inched closer to him, she'd made the mistake of looking down and her stomach was displeased.

"You've been quite the affectionate gentleman Mister Salvatore," Bonnie said her voice teasing but the underlying question as clear as day.

"I guess I'm just trying to say thank you." His voice tilted upward towards the end of the sentence, turning it into a question. Was he questioning if it would suffice? Was he questioning why he felt like he had to say thank you? "I never said it enough before, but I really want to make a point of it since you're back and safe and alive." Bonnie nodded. "You brought Damon back to me; I can never thank you enough for that."

"And yet I have a feeling you're going to try to anyway." Stefan smiled but then he perked up suddenly and lifted his gaze. Shaking the hand that was in his he muttered, 'look, look, look' in rushed whispers, his eyes wide with wonder. Bonnie did as he asked but not before memorising that expression on his face – she'd never seen it on him before, it was so peaceful, so happy. When she looked up her mouth plopped open, ungracefully she might add but it didn't matter as they both stared up as they sky fell down around them. It was truly a sight to behold. Bonnie blinked a few times after it ended and she felt a soft sadness as the moment passed her, a kind of wistfulness. Stefan must have recognised the look on her face because he nodded at a question she hadn't even formed let alone phrased. "Yeah, me too." Bonnie smiled and moved to rest her head on his shoulder.

"Is this okay?" She asked and Stefan wanted to laugh at her, she could cut his arm off at this point and he wouldn't mind. He supposed that was more telling of his character than hers.

"You can lean on me as long as you'd like," he replied looking out onto her street, "And then a little longer after that." She held onto his upper arm, looping her two arms around the limb, letting her eyes wander to their surroundings. Everything was so dark and sleepy looking, but the stars, the stars danced and winked and shook as they hung in the sky – so full of life.

"I don't know why we weren't friends before now," she said sounding a little sad, "I mean at some point I suppose we were but then it all fell apart and I was dead too long to keep whatever was or wasn't between us consistent." She couldn't see Stefan's frown.

"No," he replied tersely, "Never blame yourself, if anything the reason you died so often was _because_ of what was or wasn't between us and I'd like to shoulder the blame for that if you wouldn't mind. I'm tired of the world thinking it can rest on your shoulders any longer than it already has." A strange smile moved her mouth then, she felt like she shouldn't find warmth in his words, but she did. She began humming, a tuneless melody that set them both at ease before something occurred to her. Just as she raised her head to speak he beat her to the punch. "Happy Birthday." He whispered and her eyes lit up as he held out a folded card to her; simple elegant paper, folded in the middle and she knew it was the note she'd been moments from asking for. Grinning, she extricated herself from him and took the paper, opening it without further delay.

_If it were up to me you'd never die_

_You'd live forever so that I could tell you every day_

_How wonderful you are, how valued and crucial you've always been_

_And how much I've grown to care for you._

_I hope your year is incredible and I hope you haven't forgotten how to live._

_In case you have, I'm happy to remind you._

_Stefan Salvatore._

She stared at the words a while longer and the apprehension Stefan had felt when she'd spotted him leaving the bunch of sunflowers on her porch returned. Her watched her mouth open and close as words came and went. Her brows furrowed as if she were deciphering or memorising a spell. Her skin flushed like there wasn't a cool breeze moving between them even then. She looked up, slowly and fearfully. When her eyes met his something inside of her must have wavered because she gasped at the feeling as it gripped her and threw her arms around his neck. Stefan wasted no time hugging her back, making sure to let her do most of the squeezing.

"Do you know how long I've waited for this kind of feeling?" she asked when she pulled away, the note still tucked between the fingers of her right hand. "Being alone in the other world taught me to respect and value myself but there's a whole other kind of encouragement and empowerment that comes from being appreciated by someone else." Stefan nodded, almost stupidly as she opened up to him. He had to keep reminding himself that Bonnie was a human; so often she'd speak as though she'd lived a thousand years and seen things that had never even occurred to him. "Does that make sense?" Stefan nodded. "Thank you Stefan."

"Thank _you_ Bonnie." He replied.

After that they were inseparable, although yes, he'd been right about Caroline hogging her for the majority of her birthday but for days after that they grew closer, grew fonder and forged a freedom between themselves that no one could taint. Weeks and then months passed and Bonnie felt like she was growing into herself and then out of herself as she learned new things, saw new places and remembered the note he'd given her the night the stars had fallen around them. She felt reckless. Free. Silly. _Wanted_. A part of her acknowledged that she was too young to be so sad. And she'd been sad, exceptionally so. But Stefan had taken that sadness and melded it with hope, eventually turning it into a drive that fuelled Bonnie as she propelled herself into a realm of vivacity and dizzying whimsicality. She'd never felt anything like it.

_If it were up to me you'd never die_

Bonnie remembered a movie they'd watched together one night, she'd convinced him that while catching up on adventurous things were wonderful, being still and calm could be equally as pleasant. Quiet moments could remind you that you were alive too. The movie was _Perks of Being a Wallflower_. She remembered crying as she watched it and then her breath hitching with that one fateful line: 'I feel infinite'.

_You'd live forever so that I could tell you every day_

_How wonderful you are, how valued and crucial you've always been_

Bonnie had gotten sick a few months after that and Stefan had put an immediate end to their adventuring. Much to her dismay. He was looking down at her again as she lay in the hospital bed, with those love-me eyes after the doctor had explained to her what exactly had gone wrong. It turns out that when you die as often as she did it took a toll on your body…resulting in: surprise, surprise – _death_. According to the tests her body was slowly going to stop functioning; crucial organs withering away until her body just stopped altogether. Stefan was angry, she could tell. And he never got angry like Damon, or Jeremy or even Caroline. No, he got angry the way she did, in a resigned fashion, wondering if leaving it up to fate was the only choice and not wanting to be selfish and push at the barriers between plausible and impossible. But he looked like he wanted to push, in fact he looked like he wanted to pull, to break, to smash, to scream, to do anything but stand there and watch her die.

_And how much I've grown to care for you._

"Bonnie, please don't die." Was all he said and that's when she began to cry. In _earnest_. Of all the times she had died before, of all the times she had cried before, it had never been with this frightening density in her chest – this resounding finality that she had finally run out of time. "_Please_." He begged as he gripped her hands and buried his face in her stomach as he sat beside her in a chair, her racked breathing forming a twisted tempo for his own unnatural gasps of air as he tried and failed to hold his tears back. He didn't know if he was begging for her sake or his. If she died again, he doubted very much that there was anything anyone could do to bring her back and if she died…then well, then his _thank you's_ were useless and his words would all mean nothing because she'd take them with her and leave him empty. His head snapped up then and he wiped at her face, moving her hair and tears aside silently begging her to open her eyes. Once she did he was frowning and serious, and desperate for her to hear the words he was about to say. "Bonnie, I love you."

"I love you too." No hesitation, but he shook his head.

"You misunderstand me –"

"You must have misheard _me_," she interrupted him, cupping his cheek, "I know full and well what you mean and I mean it too, to you." His heart swelled and shrivelled, rejoiced and mourned at the jarring bittersweet tonality of it all. "So I am dying then?" she asked, "For real this time?" Despite Stefan's inner turmoil he managed to nod and she pursed her lips, nodding in return. "I want you to take me home Stefan."

_I hope your year is incredible and I hope you haven't forgotten how to live._

_In case you have, I'm happy to remind you._

"Bonnie are you sure?" He asked, for the umpteenth time and she only _just_ resisted the urge to roll her eyes at him. When she nodded again he exhaled sharply, bracing himself.

"_Do_ it." She prompted him and he clenched his jaw but acquiesced.

_If it were up to me you'd __**never**__ die_

When she woke up she didn't feel terribly different but she wasn't about to get ahead of herself. The first thing she saw was him and she smiled. He smiled back.

"Hi." She said, sitting up.

"…Hi." He moved to sit next to her on the edge of his bed where he'd left her to 'sleep'. "Wanna get it over with?" she scrunched up her face with the single most adorable expression he'd ever seen and nodded her head.

"You'll talk me through it?" he took her hand in his as an answer.

"I just have to say something first," he leaned into her and kissed her soundly on the mouth, using just enough pressure to remind her that were millions more where that came from, "…Thank you for not dying again." She smiled and pecked him on the lips. "Thank you for choosing forever."

"How could I say no to a love like yours for the rest of my life?" she wondered aloud and the smile on Stefan's face was blinding.

* * *

><p><strong>Thoughts?<strong>


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary: **Look at me go with all these updates. This one we're back to Bamon because I'm a sucker for those two. There have been so many moments that they've been purposefully snubbed, denying us all of the chance to see 'em smooch on the tellay. It's an outrage I tell you. So here is my take on their first kiss. This is from Damon's POV, it's the first time I've written it through his perspective and I had fun. Oh, timeline wise Bonnie came home sooner than canon and the wards were still up. It'll make sense why it's like that I swear. _Enjoy_. (thank you for all your wonderful reviews, in my mind they make up a quilt that I use to roll myself into a blanket-burrito in, 'cause I'm weird like that)

* * *

><p><strong>The Kiss<strong>

Take a look at Bonnie Bennett. Go on, just look at her. Shush, no, don't say anything or you'll startle her. Just, take it all in for now. Her brown hair, cropped into a sleek bob manages to catch every ray of light in each strand, glittering and reflecting the sun with an almost otherworldly phosphorescence. Her skin? Her skin is flawless and the perfect mixture of something just a little deeper in hue than your run of the mill olive undertone in a complexion. Hers is warmer, browner, prettier. Don't even get me started on the shape of her body. She was a little skinny when she first got back, who could blame her? But now she's got most of her curves back, the angles of her collarbones are still as proud as her nose and the jut of her chin. Her little shoulders, her why-even-bother-calling-them-feet feet that are so little and always housed in these flowery pumps that hurt my eyes a little if I stare too long at the patterns. Her legs are shapely, so much so that they distract me sometimes when she storms off and I watch her leave, making me stand there staring after her wondering exactly what I had done this time around to make her huff so loudly and storm off cursing my name. I have to blink a few times to remember where and who I am – and those are just the effects of her _legs_.

If I'm honest with myself then I have to say this out loud, well, at least in my head. I have vampire vision; _everything_ is crystal clear, pronounced to the point of pain. I can see every nick on the surface, every scratch, pick up on every flaw. And on Bonnie Bennett? Bah. Good luck trying to find one. I'd imagine the same could be said about me considering how devilishly good looking I am but for once, this isn't about me, it's about _her_. It's about me procrastinating from telling her how I feel about her. Not that she asked or anything, it's just that that's all anyone else has been doing so naturally I mulled it over and came to the first insane conclusion – I love her. Now, whether or not I'm _in_ love with her is still debatable, but I figure I'm headed there eventually. I mean, today, I actually shut up when she asked me to. _And_ I didn't kill anyone when she said no to me, or even when she said yes to me (you never know what could be the wrong answer with me; for someone whose so 'easy to please' I really do have a lot lines that people cross). On top of that she makes me smile like an idiot, she puts up with my shit in a way that makes me want to have _less_ shit and she didn't erase her memory of me, doesn't resemble either of my ex-girlfriends and she puts me first. Whether she'll admit it or not, I saw that look in her eyes when she sent me home, she loves me. I just have to get that into her stubborn little witch head.

Oh, she's back and on the phone. _Ooh_, she looks _pissed_. She's doing that thing with her mouth again where she turns it up a little at the one corner, like she's thinking really hard. Probably about new ways to shut me up, I keep interrupting her when she talks, only 'cause her smacking my arm every now and then reminds me that she's aware of me. I'm an idiot, I _know_. Oh shit she's looking at me. How could I forget those eyes? _Fuck_. They're this combination of greens, hazels, gold flecks and angel dust. Why else would I be gaping at her every time she so much as blinks at me? I don't know how this happened, it's like I woke up one day and her face looked different or something. I don't know. Like my perspective on her shifted. Instead of associating headaches and foiled plans with her name I know find the word 'Bonnie' synonymous with 'heroine', 'brave', 'beautiful', 'loved'. Things that she's always been or should always have been recognised as. She's still staring at me, I better say something.

"…What?" she crosses her arms over her chest and narrows her eyes at me.

"Don't play dumb with me Damon, where's my _grimoire_?" Oh, yes, _that_. I hid it because she keeps insisting on doing this spell by herself to take the wards down. As far as I'm concerned we should just give it to the Parker's, hold proverbial guns to their heads, get them to lift the wards and have the twins duke it out while everyone watches. Sounds like the perfect Saturday afternoon to me.

"How should I know it's _your_ grimoire Bon-Bon."

"Don't call me that." She rebuffs me so cutely. Nice try lady but prepare to have me unleash the power of my eyes. She shifts a little as I stare her down, I know she's trying to figure out my angle but she's too stubborn to come right out and say it. She's always liked to watch things play out a little. Is it weird that cornering her does something to me? Shut _up_ brain.

"What are you doing Bonnie?" I tower over her, another perk of our dynamic, "You know there are plenty more witches were you came from but you're insisting on flying solo. Why?"

"Why not Damon? I can handle it." I pressed my lips together, hoping to convey how unconvinced I am and how stupid she's being with the expression on my face. She didn't have to shoulder everything anymore. _That_ era was slaughtered by yours truly thank-you-very-much. It only takes someone hating you and then loving you and saving your life to realise all the wrongs in the world. I was the poster child of the Free Bonnie campaign, I don't care what anyone else says, _I_ was there for her when she needed me and I didn't stop until I got her home. Why? Because I'm Damon fucking Salvatore and she's Bonnie fucking Bennett. We get shit done it's _how we do_. And now she's back and hell bent on pissing me off all over again.

"I don't care if you can chant the spell a thousand times without getting a nosebleed," I hissed, getting right up in her space, letting her heinously mouth-watering scent waft onto my person, "You're not doing it alone, or at all if I have anything to do with it."

"So you admit it then?" She asks, lifting a brow at me all suspicious-like. I roll my eyes and move to turn and walk away, surprised when she latches onto my arm. "What's your deal you've been off lately." I look back down at her and sigh dramatically. She always insists on having these pep-talks with me, it's such a _ball ache_ sometimes. _Most_ of the time. _Always_. Whatever, shut up Brain-Damon.

"_Moi_? Off? How dare you." She narrows her eyes at me and now she's crowding _my_ space; we go back and forth like that, like our arguments are choreographed. She looks at me, damn near scans my face with her witchiness.

"Something's different, it's been different since you told Elena to quote 'keep her amnesia' unquote. What is it?" _You_ I want to say. But I don't. I _won't_.

"_You_." I say… Just once, I'd like for my brain and my mouth to have an understanding, just once. Her already wide eyes turn to pretty green saucers and I know I've done it now. Stuck my foot right in it, swirling the toes of my boots in the poop. _Genius_. She's going to run now, I've seen deer's before they break into a sprint and they look exactly like she does right now. I'm never gonna see her again. On second thought, I'll probably see her tomorrow, I still have her grimoire after all – no need for me to be so dramatic.

"What about me?" She wonders.

"Everything." I whisper, scared that if I talk any louder I'll frighten this moment away.

"Is this good or bad?" She asks and I smile, as if she has a bad bone in her body. I'd have found it by now. Given her a good talking to about it as well.

"There's nothing bad about you." I reply, all suave-like. "Not that I've had the full tour or anything but I've only ever heard good things." I threw a wink in with that, because I'm a dirty old man. She stares at me drolly and I'm reminded why she makes my undead heart flip flop in my chest, sending echoes throughout the rest of me. She doesn't like my bullshit and I love that about her. "I meant about your personality, you know, not your –"

"I'm going to stop you there," thank _god_, "And then I'm going to ask you why you're staring at me like you want to kiss me."

"Because I want to kiss you." I say. A long moment passes between us where we stay still and just look at each other. I'm honestly impressed everyone else has left us alone for so long, there's always _something_ going wrong. She starts smiling and I don't know why. Soon I'm smiling too, just 'cause she is and we're just standing there, grinning at each other like we know something the rest of the world doesn't and never will. We know _us_. Bonnie and Damon. We're the heroes of this story. It's only a matter of time before we go bickering off into the sunset.

"And you haven't yet, why?" She asks and I groan a little at the back of my throat, I can't handle her teasing me like this, with her shiny eyes and perfect mouth. "I thought you did whatever it was that you wanted."

"Not with you," I say, "I've learned the hard way to know better because of you and when it comes to you. Besides, I know it's become somewhat of a tradition between us, fighting and all that, but I'd prefer it if you _didn't_ ever set me on fire again for the things that I do or want to do." She nods and her eyes leave my face for a second and I falter, thinking maybe I said too much and should've have just kissed her face off and let her burn me for it. I've been burning this whole time anyways. "Besides, I prefer them consensual." A glimmer of amusement soars across her features as she looks back up at me.

"You always make me do all the hard work don't you?" She admonishes me and I'm about to give her an earful when she stands on her toes and kisses me.

Holy shit. _She's_ kissing _me_. Quick! I have to kiss her back before she realises what she's doing and runs off screaming to find bleach to slosh around in her mouth. So I do and I put all my years into it while I'm at it – everything I am. I lift her up because I don't want her craning her neck, I want her eye to eye with me, her mouth hard on mine, not slanted over at some angle. I want _every_ angle. Her legs are around my waist like she'd planned it this whole time and the feel of her just unravels everything inside of me and I don't know where the wall came from but I have her against it in seconds. _This is so much better than arguing_, I think to myself, _we should do it more often_. Even though my eyes are closed they get a little crossed when I hear the sounds she's making as we kiss, they harmonise with the sounds I'm making and there's a melody of pants, thuds and fabric-friction to accentuate it all into one sexy symphony. This is brilliant. She moves her mouth away and sucks in some oxygen while I trail my mouth over her jaw, under her ear, her neck before she pulls me back to her lips and I happily succumb to them. They're even softer than they look. She tugs on my bottom lip with her teeth and my grip on her thighs tightens until I'm sure she's bruised. She doesn't care though, look at her she's on cloud nine and she took me with her. She starts moving against me when I think it can't get any better and I almost drop her it feels so good.

"Wait, wait, wait, wait," _what the hell am I doing_? "Bonnie," I breathe against her mouth, she looks at me expectantly, "You know I'm never going to stop kissing you after this right?" She grins.

"_Good_."

And just like that. I got myself a Bonnie Bennett.

* * *

><p><strong>Thoughts?<strong>


End file.
